A Letter from Shuwardata of Keilah

To the king, my Lord, my gods, my sun-god, by letter I speak, even I Su-arda-ka, thy servant, the dust of thy feet: at the feet of the king my lord, my gods, my sun-god, myself seven times seven do I prostrate myself. The king of (the country of) ... directed the mouth to make war: in the city of Kelte he made war against thee the third time.
A cry (for assistance) to myself was brought. My city belonging to myself [adhered to (?)] me. Ebed-tob sends the men to Kelte; he sends 14 pieces of silver, and they marched against my rear; and the domains of the king my lord they overran. Kelte my city Ebed-tob removed from my jurisdiction; the [pleasure park (?)] of the king my lord and the fortress of Bel-nathan and the fortress of Hamor from before him and his justice he removed. Lab-api the [halting (?)] in speech occupied the fortress of ...ninu and now Lab-api together with Ebed-tob and [his men] has occupied the fortress of ...ninu ... when the king to his servant .....................

On the edge

As regards this matter, No! twice has the king returned (this) answer.

A.H.Sayce, Records of the Past, Series 2, Vol.2, 1889

gods: This is a curious parallelism to the use of the plural Elohim in Hebrew for the singular "God." A.H.Saycesun-god: The Egyptian pharaoh was not only "the son of the Sun," but was also identified with the Sun-god himself. A.H.SayceI speak:Ki dhema atmaA.H.SayceThe king, my Lord, has sent me: The king of (the country of) ... directed the mouth A.H.SayceSu-arda-ka: Su-arda-ka is a purely Assyro-Babylonian name, and shows how far the cultivated classes of Western Asia had gone in adopting the Babylonian language. A.H.SayceKelte: The Hebrew Keilah A.H.SayceEbed-tob: Abd-Dhabba, which may, however, also be read Abd-Khima. Compare the names of Tab-Rimmon (1 Kings, XV. 18) and Tab-el (Is. VII, 6) A.H.SayceBel-nathan: Written ideographically EN-MU, in Assyrian Bil-nadin. A.H.SayceHamor:Written with the ideograph of "ass", emer, Hebrew hamor. There is similar paly upon the name of the Amorite in the Old Testament, Gen. XXIV, 2, etc. compared with XLVIII, 22. A.H.Sayce